with a blanket, which he draped over Marisa's shoulders. "I'll fix you something hot to drink," he said. "What do you want?"
"H-hot... chocolate." She couldn't stop shaking.
"Try to relax."
She nodded, wondering if she would ever feel clean again. Alexi had invaded her mind, her thoughts, threatened her....
"Here." Ramsey thrust a mug into her hands. "Drink it; you'll feel better." He glanced around the room. "Where the hell is Chiavari?"
"He... he went out."
"Was he going to look for Kristov?"
"I... I don't think so."
Edward grunted softly, his expression saying he understood where Grigori had gone.
Feeling restless, Edward walked through the apartment, checking to make sure the windows were locked, the curtains drawn.
When he returned to the living room, Grigori was sitting on the sofa beside Marisa. The vampire looked up as Edward entered the room.
"Enjoy your dinner?" Edward asked in a voice heavily laced with sarcasm.
"Tread softly, Ramsey, lest you have two vampyres seeking your destruction."
The words were spoken without malice but were no less threatening because of it. Edward's face went pale, then flushed with anger. "I'm not afraid of you, bloodsucker."
"No?" Grigori regarded him a moment. "Then you're a bigger fool than I thought. Marisa tells me Kristov was here."
Edward nodded.
"I thought I felt his presence when I returned." Grigori swore under his breath. If only he had come back sooner! "Marisa, I think you should go to bed. Ramsey will drive you to work tomorrow. Stay inside the building until he comes to pick you up."
"All right."
"I'll see you at dusk."
She nodded, too weary to speak, to think.
"Everything will be all right."
"Will it? Alexi seems very sure of himself."
"I won't let him hurt you." Effortlessly, Grigori swung her up into his arms and, in spite of her protests that she could walk, carried her down the hallway to her bedroom and tucked her into bed.
He stared down at her a moment, and she felt herself caught up in his gaze again, felt the attraction that was ever between them hum to life.
Grigori blew out a deep breath. "Sleep well, Marisa," he murmured, and, bending down, he brushed his lips across her brow.
With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes, instantly asleep.
Grigori regarded her for a long moment, admiring her quiet beauty, the sweep of her dark lashes against her cheeks, the lush fullness of her lower lip. His gaze drifted to the rise and fall of her breasts, and he felt the stir of desire, the longing to hold her in his arms, to make love to her until the sun stole the night from the sky.
But Ramsey waited in the other room. And Alexi stalked the streets of the city, seeking prey to quench his monstrous thirst.
And somewhere, lost in a world of endless darkness, Antoinette waited.
He drew the covers up to Marisa's chin. The simple act stirred the memory of other nights, long ago, and he felt a sharp pang as he recalled the nights he had put his children to bed, told them a story. How, before he sought his own rest, he had always gone in to make sure they were safely tucked in. Marisa was not a child, yet, compared to him, she was young, so young. And so vulnerable. The protective instincts he had harbored for his children rose up within him now, and he vowed again to keep her safe, no matter the cost.
"Rest well, cara," he murmured.
Edward glanced up from the newspaper he was reading, a flicker of unease in his eyes, as Grigori entered the room.
Reaching into his pocket, Grigori withdrew a key and tossed it to Ramsey. "I'll be waiting for you after you take Marisa to work."
Ramsey nodded uneasily, clearly not liking the idea of sharing a room with a vampire. "You really think he'll send her after me again?"
"Nothing's certain in life except death," Grigori replied. "You should know that by now."
"Did you ever stop to think that he's only using Antoinette as bait. For you?"
"Do you take me for a fool?" Grigori snapped. "Of course I have."
"Why is he doing this?"
"I told you, it's a game, one he feels certain of winning."
"A game - " Edward shook his head. "He's playing with people's lives."
"He has no regard for humanity," Grigori said, "or for anything else. He's existed for a thousand years, maybe more. Eternity can be very boring, even for a vampyre, and so he's devised a game, and you and Marisa are the pawns."
"And what are you?"
"I'm the prize."
"And what of Antoinette?"
"As you